Florida Proposes Capping THC at 10% for Children

A proposal in Florida’s House of Representatives would cap medical cannabis THC content at 10 percent for patients under 21-years-old, the News Service of Florida reports. A nearly identical version of the measure stalled in the Senate earlier this week.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R) as an amendment attached to a Department of Health reform package, would also limit the daily dose of smokable medical cannabis products to .08 ounces (about 2.27 grams) and cap daily edible doses at 200 milligrams of THC with no single dose exceeding 10 milligrams, according to the bill text.

Patients under 21 would only be able to obtain products in excess of the THC cap if their physician gets permission from health officials or if they are terminally ill.

Ron Watson, a lobbyist who represents medical cannabis company MüV Florida, called the 10 percent cap “arbitrary” and “based on inconclusive research” which puts “the most vulnerable medical cannabis patients” in the state at risk.

“We believe a patient’s course of treatment should only be decided by a physician in collaboration with a parent and their child.” – Watson to the News Service of Florida

Children under 18 enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program are already required to have approval from two doctors.

Sen. Gayle Harrell (R), the Senate Health Policy Chair who introduced a similar version of the bill in the Senate that was ultimately withdrawn after bipartisan pushback in the chamber’s Rules Committee, told reporters that she introduced the bill to see “how the THC limit for children would play out” in the committee but there was “no appetite” for the limit in the upper chamber.

The THC limits for children are a priority for Republican House leaders, according to the report, including Speaker José Oliva; however, the House proposal has not been vetted by any committee in the chamber.

Florida‘s legislative session ends March 13 and House lawmakers could pull the medical cannabis-related amendment from the reform package if they believe it wouldn’t pass in the Senate.